During an inspection tour of Shandong province in April, President Hu Jintao reiterated his support for building a marine economic zone in the Shandong Peninsula.

Soon after his visit, "guidelines for building the Shandong Peninsula Marine Economic Zone" were released and the Shandong Party committee and provincial government held meetings to plan implementation of the strategy.

An important part of the initiative centers on Weihai, a port city with 986 km of coastline that is surrounded on three sides by the Yellow Sea.

The city's established industrial base, strong technological foundation and vibrant ecology are also advantages in developing a marine-based economy.

Weihai authorities are focusing on developing six industrial sites to boost the marine-based economy.

Seafood production

Weihai has more than 300 kinds of seafood products including prawns, sea cucumber, abalone, shellfish, algae and a variety of fish.

Its fish farms cover 220,000 hectares and 245 ocean-going fishing vessels are based at the port. Annual output of aquatic products from Weihai surpassed 2 million tons in recent years, ranking it first among all prefecture-level cities in China.

While the area will continue to emphasize cultivation of seafood species like sea cucumber, abalone, prawns and flounder and support large ocean-going fishing companies, seafood processing will also be a highlight of its economic growth.

Shipbuilding

With a number of deep-water harbors along its coastline and more than 90 shipbuilding and spare parts enterprises, Weihai has enormous further potential for shipbuilding.

Marine transport still leads the international freight business despite the international economic downturn that resulted in dwindling demand for new ships. As a result, shipbuilders in Weihai are retooling to develop more large and advanced vessels using their own intellectual property rights.

Weihai's shipbuilding capacity is expected to surpass 2 million deadweight tons this year, with 1 million tons already built.